Tribeca Film Festival: 'Don McKay' star Thomas Haden Church on his up, down and sideways career

What is it about actor Thomas Haden Church that makes him almost instantly likable? That question was on my mind before, during and after my interview with the Emmy winner and Oscar nominee last week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where he was promoting his latest film, "Don McKay," and it's taken a while, but I think I've figured out the answer: Not unlike Robert Mitchum, another gravely voiced and perenially underappreciated talent whom he calls to mind, he just doesn't give a damn. That's not to say that he doesn't care about what he does; he -- his characters and himself -- just doesn't care what you think about what he does.

Over 20 years on screen, Church has specialized in playing carefree and fun-loving characters who might not be the sharpest tool in the shed,but who guys would love to hang out with and chicks would love to date -- the most famous examples, of course, are airport mechanic Lowell Mather on "Wings" (1990-95) and road-tripping Jack in "Sideways" (2004). Off-screen, meanwhile, he seems to have the unusual ability to recognize the BS that has always been the driving force of Hollywood and that has afflicted him -- the hard knocks, the broken promises, the false stories -- and not let it bother him. No, he's too busy running four cattle ranches, a commercial beef operation, and an acting career (when the right part calls) to let it.

You can hear him talk about all this and more in the audio excerpts of our interview below ...

• Church on why and how he became an actor ...

• "I hadn't really heard that much about ['Alien'], pulled into the parking lot, looked at the one sheet -- which is, of course, the infamous egg, and the crack, and the light coming out, and 'No one in space can hear you scream' -- and I'm like, 'Sure, why not? I'll go in there.' I was the only guy in the theater, and was absolutely ... terrified and exhilarated for two-plus hours. And I walked out of there and -- really and truly, man -- it was an epiphany."

• Church on the ups and downs of a career ...

• "Clearly, you know, you have your peaks and valleys and your fallow periods, but, you know, you just muddle through."

• Church on Hollywood lies ...

• "The very nature of Hollywood is to be reductive, is to simplify to the point of quasi-humiliation everybody's struggle."

• Church on the real story behind "Sideways" ...

• "I am convinced... the only reason [Payne] remembered me was because we talked about Marlon Brando for two ... hours. ... George Clooney and Brad Pitt were chasing it ... and he said no to those guys."

• Church on life and work since the Oscars ...

• "Right after the Academy Awards -- or around, like, the beginning of '05, whenever 'Sideways' was being celebrated so fervently -- there was a ton of activity, not the least of which was I got offered the villain in 'Spider-Man 3.' Look at Mickey Rourke -- he's doing 'Iron Man 2' and 'Spider-Man 4.' "

Photos: Thomas Haden Church in "Wings" (NBC), "Sideways" (Fox Searchlight), and "Don McKay" (Tribeca Film Festival)